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A SERMON 

PREACHED  BY  THE  REV.  J.  H.  RYLANCE,  D.D., 

IN 

ST.  MARK’S  CHURCH,  NEW  YORK, 


December  12th,  1886. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST. 


$cur  -$torfc: 

JAMES  POTT  & CO.,  PUBLISHERS. 
1887. 


(Drtl)obojq)  anb  tl)c  ijcatljcn. 


A SERMON. 


“ The  desire  of  all  nations  shall  come.” — Haggai  ii.,  7. 

Or — tlie  things  desired  by  all  nations  shall  come  ; 
which  is  a truer  rendering  of  the  original,  probably. 

Pagan  poets  and  philosophers  were  ever  looking 
back,  it  has  been  said,  on  a golden  age  past.  The 
golden  age  of  Hebrew  prophets  was  ever  before  them. 
Throughout  the  Jewish  Scriptures  we  find  promises  of 
a better  day  for  the  world  ; of  the  coming  of  a Teacher 
of  truth,  of  a Deliverer  from  sin,  of  a King  who  should 
rule  in  righteousness.  Hope  of  this  better  day  was 
kept  alive  among  the  Jews  by  a succession  of  inspired 
teachers,  and  by  symbolic  rites ; expectation  growing 
stronger,  and  the  prospect  brighter,  as  the  time  for 
their  realization  drew  near. 

In  these  thino-s  the  descendants  of  Abraham  were 

O 

favored  above  all  other  peoples.  We  commonly  limit 
our  thoughts  of  God’s  moral  dealings  with  mankind 
therefore  to  them,  to  the  Jews;  deeming  all  heathen 
nations  outcasts  from  the  circle  of  His  sympathy.  Yet 
were  heathen  men  the  children  of  the  Father  in  heaven 
also,  though  on  a lower  level  of  status  and  privilege  than 
“ the  chosen  race.”  Blind,  and  debased,  and  desper- 


2 


ORTHODOXY  AND  TnE  HEATHEN. 


ately  wicked  often,  were  the  peoples  that  knew  not 
God ; but  in  all  nations  above  the  imbruted  condition, 
the  workings  of  a moral  reason  and  conscience  were 
visible  ; traditions  of  a lost  heritage  survived ; yearn- 
ings after  deliverance  from  the  disorder  and  misery  of 
their  condition  were  felt  by  multitudes  of  men,  who 
nevertheless  knew  no  sure  way  of  escape ; while  ex- 
amples of  a noble,  positive  virtue  were  frequent  in  the 
Pagan  world ; and  that  spite  of  terrible  disadvantages 
in  moral  condition.  Having  no  “ direct  ” revelation  of 
the  mind  and  will  of  the  divine  Father,  heathen  men 
deciphered  as  best  they  could  the  intimations  of  Na- 
ture, and  the  intuitions  of  the  soul ; the  wisest  among 
them  attaining,  however,  to  faith  in  God,  and  to  a 
“ natural  piety.” 

That  is  a more  favorable  estimate  of  the  heathen,  I 
know,  than  has  been  held  and  taught  by  a rigid  “ or- 
thodoxy.” Evangelical  systems  of  theology,  notably 
that  of  John  Calvin,  have  consigned  all  heathen  peo- 
ples to  eternal  perdition,  without  discrimination  as  to 
their  moral  deservings.  But  some  of  Calvin’s  theolog- 
ical children  have  been  timidly  hinting  of  late,  that 
this  wholesale  condemnation  of  myriads  of  men,  simply 
because  they  were  born  beyond  certain  geographical 
lines,  is  unreasonable  and  incredible.  Hence  consider- 
able stir  just  now  in  the  ecclesiastical  air;  a so-called 
“ New  Theology  ” holding,  that,  if  not  by  the  “way  of 
salvation”  as  we  know  it,  then  by  some  other  way, 
will  all  good  men  out  of  the  Pagan  world,  be  gathered 
into  the  family  of  God  in  the  life  to  come.  But  the 
doctrine  is  vehemently  condemned  by  our  evangelical 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  as  treasonable  to  the  truth  of 


ORTHODOXY  AND  THE  HEA  THEN. 


3 


Christ’s  Gospel.  Let  us  hope  that  the  Scribes  are 
wrong,  as  they  so  often  have  been  ; believing  that  there 
is  more  mercy  in  God  than  there  is  in  them. 

For  the  thought  were  intolerable,  that  the  moral 
nobility  and  beauty  of  character  which  were  once  vis- 
ible in  the  lives  of  Pagan  saints  and  sages,  are  fit 
only  for  burning.  Among  them  were  men  whose  tem- 
perance, and  purity,  and  magnanimity,  and  charity, 
would  put  to  shame  a good  deal  of  our  Christian  vir- 
tue. And  surely  the  Spirit  of  God  was  at  work  in  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  such  men,  though  they  knew  not 
whence  the  inspiration  came.  Heathen  peoples  were 
intensely  religious ; but  in  a blindly  blundering  way 
often.  And  what  surprises  us  not  a little,  on  becoming 
acquainted  with  their  sacred  books  and  customs,  is  the 
discovery  of  how  much  there  is  in  common  in  them  with 
what  we  find  in  our  Bible.  In  all  forms  of  religious 
worship  worthy  of  regard,  among  Gentiles  as  among 
Jews,  we  find  four  great  institutions  in  honor: — sacri- 
fices; a 'priesthood ; holy  places ; and  sacred  seasons. 
Glance  at  the  first  for  a moment.  How  wonderful 
that  we  come  upon  sacrifices  everywhere  ; and  in  all 
ages  : not  only  among  savages,  but  among  peoples 
highly  refined.  One  would  be  inclined  to  say,  there- 
fore, that  the  custom  of  offering  sacrifices  was  not  the 
creature  of  any  sort  of  imposture ; but  that  it  sprang 
from  some  universally-felt  want  in  men.  Wherever 
we  meet  with  it,  it  is  the  expression  of  the  most  sol- 
emn fears  and  hopes  of  human  hearts ; bearing  every- 
where the  same  general  features,  and  having  before  it 
the  same  great  aims.  To  win  favor  with  the  Di- 
vinity, as  men  thought,  the  sacrifice  had  to  be  a 


4 


ORTHODOXY  AND  THE  HEATHEN. 


thing  of  value’,  in  desperate  emergencies,  something 
of  the  highest  value,  even  life  for  life.  Seeking  relief 
from  their  terrors,  men  and  women  have  given  to  death 
“ the  fruit  of  their  bodies  for  the  sin  of  their  souls,” 
as  in  Moloch  worship ; the  religious  instinct  here,  as 
so  often,  suffering  terrible  perversion.  Or  the  offering 
had  to  be  rich  and  abundant.  Hence  the  prodigality 
displayed  in  the  “ rivers  of  oil  ” of  which  we  read, 
and  “ cattle  from  a thousand  hills.”  But  more  siamifi- 

O 

cant  than  these  was  the  requirement  that  the  sacrifice 
should  be  pure.  The  victim  must  be  without  blemish, 
and  undefiled  by  common  uses : — “ the  bullock  that 
had  never  worn  a yoke,  the  horse  that  had  never  known 
a rider,”*  or  the  lamb,  type  of  gentleness  and  innocence. 
The  priesthood  too,  is  everywhere  in  history  ; in  all 
climes,  and  under  all  civilizations.  Worshippers  the 
world  round,  have  felt  their  own  unworthiness  so  keenly 
that  they  have  chosen  mediators  to  represent  them 
with  the  Deity,  or  with  the  deities,  they  have  adored. 
The  wise,  the  good,  men  highest  in  social  rank,  or 
those  revered  for  their  sanctity,  have  been  called  in 
to  act  as  intercessors  through  prayers  and  offerings, 
in  behalf  of  all  the  people.  Heathenism  had  its  holy 
places  also.  The  common  earth  has  seemed  profaned 
by  the  wickedness  done  on  it : piety  has  therefore 
sought  exceptional  places  for  worship.  Deep  in  the 
obscurity  of  woods;  or  on  the  topmost  heights  of  hills 
that  reach  to  heaven  ; — in  such  places  devout  instinct 
has  built  its  temples,  or  its  altars,  to  the  Divinity  it 
has  acknowledged.  Or  certain  times  have  been  set 

* See  “ Hulsean  Lecture"  for  1845  and  De  Pressenso’s  “ Histoire  des 
Trois  Premiers  Slides." 


ORTHODOXY  AND  1'llE  HEA  THEN. 


,) 


apart,  and  consecrated  to  religious  uses.  Men  have 
felt  that  they  must  separate  themselves  from  the  asso- 
ciations of  their  daily  common  life  to  hold  intercourse 
with  the  gods : and  so  they  have  instituted  holy-days, 
sacred  seasons,  that  their  invocations  and  offerings 
might  find  better  acceptance  ; or  that  the  help  they 
sought  might  more  surely  come  to  them. 

Among  all  peoples  who  have  left  their  names  in 
history,  these  four  institutions — sacrifice,  a priesthood, 
sanctuaries,  and  sacred  seasons,  have  had  place.  At 
first,  or  among  the  less  enlightened  tribes  of  mankind, 
the  forms  and  forces  of  nature  were  deified  and  adored. 
In  their  blindness  and  confusion,  men  attributed  to 
base  matter  the  powers  of  divinity.  They  could  not 
conceive  of  an  absent,  invisible  God : they  must 
have  images  before  them  which  they  could  see  and 
touch.  But  up  from  fetich  worship,  through  higher 
forms  of  idolatry,  we  can  trace  a law  of  progress  in 
the  religious  ideas  and  customs  of  mankind ; till  at 
length,  the  gods  are  glorified  patterns  of  men.  This 
deification  of  humanity  was  an  immense  advance  upon 
the  coarser  forms  of  idolatry  which  had  generally  pre- 
vailed in  heathendom  ; for  thus  a moral  element  began 
to  assert  itself  in  Pagan  worship.  But  this  soon 
proved  fatal  to  the  integrity  and  power  of  the  old 
superstitions.  Contempt  for  the  gods  once  adored 
rapidly  increased,  among  men  of  discernment.  Reason 
and  conscience  had  very  generally  got  beyond  the 
fables  and  impostures  which  had  once  satisfied  them. 
Philosophers  scoffed  at  them  ; while  even  the  common 
people  became  indifferent  to  the  shrines  at  which  they 
had  long  rendered  an  unreasoning  homage.  That 


6 


ORTHODOXY  AND  THE  HEATHEN. 


was  the  condition  of  things  which  prevailed  through- 
out the  Roman  empire,  at  least,  at  the  ej)och  of  Christ’s 
birth.  With  its  great  hungry  heart  emptied  of  the 
hopes  and  fears  that  had  once  possessed  it,  the  world 
was  waiting  for  a purer  faith  and  a nobler  truth. 
And  then  it  was,  “ the  f ulness  of  time  having  come” 
that  “ God  sent  forth  His  Son;  ” “ a light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles;  ” “ the  desired  of  all  nations.” 

Yes  ; vaguely,  inarticulately,  Christ  was  the  desired 
of  all  nations.  Not  that  they  had  any  clear  anticipa- 
tions of  the  personal  Christ  whom  we  know  so  well, 
from  the  fourfold  account  we  have  of  Him  in  the 
Evangelists.  But  throughout  the  Pagan  world  there 
was  a longing  felt  for  the  character  which  was  after- 
wards embodied  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ; or  for  the  re- 
demption He  came  to  accomplish  for  men  ; for  some 
Teacher  of  infallible  truth  ; for  a Deliverer  from  the 
confusion  and  misery,  of  the  times  ; for  a Lawgiver 
who  should  bring  in  the  reign  of  peace  and  righteous- 
ness. In  the  mythologies  and  sacred  mysteries  of 
Paganism,  in  its  systems  of  philosophy  and  in  its  codes 
of  morality,  we  see  the  struggles  of  the  human  mind 
after  light  upon  the  mysteries  that  oppressed  men,  for 
help  in  the  warfare  with  evil  they  endured  ; and  hear 
the  yearnings  of  human  hearts  for  a rest  which  mythol- 
ogies and  philosophies  could  never  give.  Through 
these  things  men  were  groping  after  God,  “ if  haply 
they  might  find  Him.”  Bathed  and  disappointed  often, 
aspiration,  spite  of  all,  was  irrepressible.  Till  at 
length,  in  enlightened  nations,  a confident  hope 
dawned  upon  here  and  there  a devout  thinker,  that 
some  prophet  from  the  great  God  would  soon  appear, 


ORTHODOXY  AND  THE  HEA  THEN. 


7 


bringing  light  and  salvation  for  the  human  race.  How 
pathetically  that  feeling  speaks  out  in  words  which 
Plato  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Socrates ! *•  It  is  neces- 
sary to  wait,”  says  the  great  sage,  “ till  some  one  shall 
teach  us  how  it  behoves  us  to  conduct  ourselves,  both 
towards  the  gods,  and  towards  men.”  To  which  Alci- 
biades  replies: — ‘‘When  shall  that  time  arrive,  O 
Socrates  ? and  who  shall  that  teacher  be  ? for  most 
eagerly  do  I wish  to  see  such  a man.” 

Yes;  “ most  eagerly  ” did  men  in  all  nations  above 
the  savage  state,  long  for  the  appearance  of  some  Di- 
vine messenger,  to  make  known  the  mind  and  will  of 
God  more  perfectly  than  the  oracles  of  heathenism  had 
done  ; with  which  feeling  Christian  men  may  surely 
sympathize ; believing  that  the  inspiration  was  from 
heaven,  and  that  its  aim  was  heavenward.  From  the 
beginning,  the  Creator  has  included  the  whole  race  of 
men  in  His  purposes  of  mercy.  Never  in  His  moral 
dealings  with  any  people,  has  there  been  any  arbitrary 
“ respect  of  persons  ” ; but  “ in  every  nation , he  that  has 
feared  God , and  worked  righteousness , has  been  ac- 
cepted!'' Where  the  light  of  His  fuller  truth  had  never 
come,  there  “ rain  and  fruitful  seasons  ” were  a Divine 
revelation  ; as  Paul  taught  the  degraded  people  of 
Lycaonia.  No  cry  from  any  truly  penitent  heart  was 
ever  unheard  in  heaven,  at  what  altar  soever  tlie  dev- 
otee bowed.  One  of  the  most  comforting  assurances 
in  Holy  Scripture  to  me,  is  the  declaration  of  a Chris- 
tian apostle,  as  he  looked  round  on  a city  full  of  idols : 
“The  times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at  ’ ” even  as 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  said  in  behalf  of  His  murderers: 
“ Father , forgive  them : they  know  not  what  they  doT 


8 


ORTHODOXY  AND  THE  HEATHEN. 


“ All  souls  are  Mine ,”  said  the  Almighty  through  the 
mouth  of  a prophet.  And  therefore,  spite  of  the  im- 
putation of  heresy  brought  against  it  by  our  evangelical 
orthodoxy,  we  may  still  take  home  to  our  hearts  the 
sublime  invocation  of  the  “ Universal  Prayer”  : 

“ Father  of  all;  in  every  age; 

In  every  clime  adored: 

By  saint,  by  savage,  or  by  sage ; 

Jehovah,  Jove,  or  Lord.” 

The  Jove  of  Pagan  poets,  and  of  popular  superstition, 
was  not  Jehovah  ; but  when  the  worshipper  knew  no 
better,  infinite  Mercy  had  pity  on  his  lack  of  knowl- 
edge, we  may  fain  hope.  For  “ a man  is  accepted  ac- 
cording to  what  he  hath'’  says  St.  Paul,  “and  not  accord- 
ing to  what  he  hath  not''  Yes;  that  is  the  rule  of 
eternal  Justice; — 11  according  to  what  a man  hath,"  of 
light,  of  knowledge,  of  opportunity,  of  moral  power. 
These  are  the  measure  of  a man’s  responsibility : by 
these  standards  will  every  man  be  judged  at  last ; and 
not  by  privileges  he  had  never  known  ; nor  ever  could 
have  known.  To  whomsoever  little  has  been  given, 
from  him  shall  little  be  required.  For  the  God  with 
whom  we  have  to  do  is  not  a hard  taskmaster,  reap- 
ing where  He  has  not  sown,  or  gathering  where  lie 
has  not  strawed ; but  is  pitiful  and  compassionate 
towards  all  who  are  “ ignorant  and  out  of  the  way.” 

1 call  your  reason  and  conscience  to  witness,  my 
friends,  that  these  doctrines — which  are  not  mine,  but 
1 1 is  that  sent  me — are  true  and  righteous.  Yet  are 
they  denounced  by  the  rulers  of  our  evangelical  syna- 
gogues as  loose  and  lawless  ; or  as  perilous  to  the  souls 
of  those  who  receive  them.  Spite  of  the  progress  of 


ORTHODOXY  AND  THE  HKATUEN. 


!) 


liberal  thought  ami  feeling  in  theology,  the  ohl  fanat- 
ical faith  which  doomed  all  heathen  peoples  indiscrim- 
inately to  eternal  agony,  is  reasserted  to-day.  Among 
enlightened  Christian  men  generally,  the  terribly  in- 
human things  which  somehow  got  into  the  creeds  of 
the  churches,  are  allowed  to  fall  into  forgetfulness. 
Very  few  men  can  be  found  to-day  who  really  believe 
in  the  inevitable  damnation  of  unbaptized  infants;  or 
who  accept  the  notion  of  an  absolute  predestination  of 
a few  men  to  everlasting  life,  and  of  the  vast  majority 
to  the  horrors  of  an  everlasting  hell.  But  among  our 
Christian  llabbis,  there  is  a strong  attachment  felt  still 
for  the  cruel  notions  once  generally  taught  in  the 
name  of  a God  of  mercy.  Most  vehemently  do  they 
condemn  the  cherishing  of  pity  for  the  heathen. 
Teachers  of  the  “ New  Theology  ” I referred  to  just 
now,  have  timidly  suggested  the  possibility  of  salva- 
tion hereafter  for  the  better  representatives  of  the 
Pagan  world ; or  that  all  who  have  failed  from  no 
fault  of  their  own  in  this  life,  will  have  “ a chance”  of 
attaining  to  favor  in  the  life  to  come.  But  these 
teachers  are  denounced  as  traitors  to  God’s  truth.  No 
sympathy  must  be  suffered  for  the  “ sheep  having  no 
shepherd  ” ; for  the  millions  of  God’s  children  who 
have  lived  and  died  in  ignorance  of  Christ’s  Gospel. 
They  have  had  little  or  no  light  to  guide  them  to  His 
feet.  Their  lot  has  been  bitterly  hard,  as  a rule.  They 
have  lived  in  misery  mostly;  and  died  in  despair:  but 
we  are  to  feel  no  compassion  for  them,  say  our  Pharisees; 
except  in  a theologically  legitimate  way.  There  is  no 
hope  for  them  in  God’s  mercy.  Nothing  awaits  them  on 
leaving  this  world,  but  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  ! 


10 


ORTHODOXY  AND  THE  HEATHEN. 


Great  God  ! how  remorselessly  cruel  our  theologies 
have  been  ! What  a passion  for  vengeance  has 
possessed  men  professing  to  believe  in  a Gospel  of  love  ! 
No  wonder  that  men  trained  in  the  narrowest  of  our 
sects  are  becoming  restive,  under  demands  made  upon 
their  faith  by  creeds  which  contradict  the  spirit 
and  teaching  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Thanks  be  to  God 
for  the  large  liberty  of  the  “ Apostles’  Creed  ” ; for  the 
blessed  immunity  secured  to  us  thereby,  from  the  des- 
potism of  ecclesiastics  and  theologians ! for  the  larger 
hope  we  are  permitted  to  cherish,  in  forecasting  the 
destiny  of  vast  multitudes  of  men  who  have  groped 
their  way  to  the  grave  through  the  gloom  of  heathen- 
ism. Witnesses  for  this  better  hope  have  been  found 
in  all  ages  among  the  great  teachers  of  the  Christian 
Church.  The  so-called  “ New  Theology  ” is  not  new. 
Those  who  know  the  best  and  strongest  men  in  the 
Anglican  Church,  are  familiar  with  broad  and  humane 
views  on  the  questions  I am  handling.  Good  learning 
makes  men  liberal,  in  looking  back  into  history,  or 
round  on  the  living  world  of  mankind.  Spite  of  the 
restraints  he  acknowledged,  Erasmus  dared  to  say, 
that  he  felt  like  exclaiming : — “ O sancte  Socrates:  ora 
pro  nobis”  as  he  pondered  what  Plato  reports  of  the 
great  sage.  To  the  unreasoning  faith  of  the  darker 
ages,  generally,  there  was  no  salvation  for  men  outside 
of  the  visible  Church.  But  a more  generous  feeling 
had  possessed  some  of  the  wisest  and  best  of  the 
Church  “fathers.”  Even  the  severe  Tertullian  could 
speak  of  minds  “naturally  Christian  ” / acknowledg- 
ing his  indebtedness  to  the  writings  of  Seneca.  But 
by  Justin,  the  Alexandrian  Clement,  Origen,  and  by 


ORTHODOXY  ANT)  THE  HEATHEN. 


11 


others,  the  great  ethical  teachers  of  the  Pagan  world 
were  held  to  have  been  forerunners  of  the  Christ ; pre- 
paring Ilis  way,  and  “making  Ilis  paths  straight.” 
Speaking  of  those  at  whose  feet  he  had  sat  in  the 
schools  of  philosophy,  or  from  whose  writings  he  had 
gathered  wisdom,  Justin  said: — “ These  men  are  not 
Atheists , but  Christians."  Nay;  older  than  the 
“ fathers  ” is  this  “ New  Theology.”  The  Apostle  Peter, 
though  not  yet  fully  delivered  from  bondage  to  Rab- 
binic Judaism,  learned  by  the  call  of  the  Gentile  cen- 
turion Cornelius,  that  “ in  every  nation  ” there  were 
souls  acceptable  to  God.  While  a greater  than  Peter 
uses  language  of  the  heathen  which  I marvel  how  men 
to-day  can  reconcile  with  their  cruel  creeds.  For  “ when 
the  Gentiles  do  by  nature  the  things  contained  in  the 
law,”  says  St.  Paul,  “ these  having  not  the  law,  are  a 
law  unto  themselves  / which  show  the  work  of  the  law 
written  in  their  hearts  ; their  consciences  also  bearing 
witness  ; and  their  thoughts  the  meanwhile  accusing 
or  else  excusing  one  another  ! ” 

But  I may  be  reminded,  that  “ there  is  none  other 
name  given  among  men  whereby  they  may  be  saved , but 
the  name  of  Jesus.”  True,  my  friend : but  how  know 
you  how  far  the  virtue  of  that  name  extends  ? Far 
beyond  the  limits  of  your  little  Christendom,  historic, 
or  actual.  For  St.  John  said  of  the  Christ,  that  He 
was  “ the  true  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that  someth 
into  the  world."  We  have  good  ground  to  hope,  there- 
fore that  multitudes  of  men  who  never  heard  the  name 
will  be  saved  by  it.  Does  that  seem  a strange  thing 
for  me  to  say  ? It  will  no  longer  seem  strange,  if  you 
will  only  consider  the  sanction  which  we  have  from 


12 


ORTHODOXY  AND  THE  HEATHEN. 


the  Lord  Jesus  Himself  for  this  larger  hope.  In  the 
solemn  forecasting  of  the  last  judgment  which  we  have 
in  St.  Matthew,  Jesus  tells  us  of  those  who  shall  hear 
the  benediction  of  the  Judge  upon  the  good  deeds  they 
had  done  with  wonder ; and  who  shall  disclaim  that 
they  had  ever  knowingly  done  Him  the  service  so  ap- 
proved. In  answer  to  which  the  Judge  shall  say — and 
that  Judge  will  be  our  Saviour,  Christ — “Inasmuch 
as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  little  onts,  ye 
did  it  unto  Mel"  And  these  shall  go  away  “ into  life 
eternal.” 

Thank  God  that  His  mercy  is  wider  and  deeper 
than  our  theoretical  knowledge  of  Him : wider  than 
any  system,  ecclesiastical  or  theological,  which  has 
represented  Him  to  the  world.  “ Other  sheep  I have,” 
said  Jesus,  “which  are  not  of  this  fold.”  “God  fulfils 
Himself  in  many  ways.”  Not  only  “ at  sundry  times,” 
but  “ in  divers  manners”  has  He  spoken  to  men.  Not 
only  through  Hebrew  prophets  and  Christian  apostles ; 
but  through  the  lips  of  Pagan  philosophers  also.  These 
men  too,  in  their  own  measure,  were  lights  shining  in 
dark  places.  For  human  reason  is  a “ candle  of  the 
Lord”',  led  by  which  light,  and  having  “done  by 
nature  the  things  contained  in  the  law,”  multitudes  shall 
come  forth  at  last  “ out  of  every  nation,  and  people, 
and  tongue;  and  “ shall  sit  down  with  Abraham  and 
Isaac  and  Jacob,”  and  with  all  saints,  in  the  home  of 
the  Father  in  heaven.  Amen. 


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